Tire changing devices are generally designed for large diameter tires, i.e., passenger car or larger, and several brands of automatic devices for large diameter tires are found in tire stores.
Small diameter tires are not a great percentage of a tire store's business, but they must be handled as part of the overall business of dealing in tires. Trailer and wheelbarrow tires, for example, are customarily changed on the floor, holding the tire down by the operator's knees. This is an awkward procedure and one step in the procedure is particularly dangerous: Reinflating the tire. Tires having tight beads are especially susceptible because, on changing the tire on the rim, the operator may make a nick in the tire bead or lip of the wheel. The result is a weakness that may cause the tire to explode on reinflation. If the rim is not securely fastened down the explosion may cause serious injury to the human operator. Accordingly, there is a need for an inexpensive, simply constructed and simple to operate tire changing apparatus that is safe and easy to use in the hands of the operators. But nothing to the inventor's knowledge is available for use in changing small diameter tires.